Philippine storm toll rises to 140 dead

MANILA – The Philippines appealed for international help yesterday after a tropical storm killed 140 people in the country’s north and warned a new storm could strike this week, with tens of thousands of citizens still displaced from their homes.

At least 32 people were reported missing, and authorities were still trying to verify scores of unconfirmed deaths, including in the hard-hit capital Manila and nearby Rizal province, where there were reports that about 99 more people had died, Defence Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said.Tens of thousands of residents, meanwhile, began a massive cleanup of the carnage left by Tropical Storm Ketsana, which struck on Saturday, bringing the region’s worst flooding in 42 years and triggering deadly landslides.The extent of devastation became clearer Monday with mud-covered communities, cars upended on city streets and huge numbers of villagers without drinking water, food and power.Since the storm struck, the government has declared a ‘state of calamity’ in metropolitan Manila and 25 storm-hit provinces, allowing officials to use emergency funds for relief and rescue.The homes of more than 450 000 people were inundated. Some 115 000 of them were brought to about 200 schools, churches and other evacuation shelters, officials said. Troops, police and volunteers have been able to rescue more than 7 900 people so far, Teodoro said.He told a news conference that help from foreign governments will ensure that the Philippine government can continue its relief work. Government welfare officials have begun focusing on providing food, medicine and other necessities to those in emergency shelters. – Nampa-AP